Left I on the News

A leftwing view of the day's news and the way it's presented in the media

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

S-CHIP as foreign policy

That stands for "Superb Cuban Healthcare In Peru." In the two months following the earthquake in Peru that killed nearly 600 people, 77 Cuban doctors, who arrived just days after the disaster and brought with them their own field hospitals (precisely what they could have done after Katrina), have treated 61,000 patients including 500 surgeries.

In an example of the way foreign policy (and healthcare in general) should work, the doctors have extended their care to anyone in need:

Nieves reported that he fractured his tibia and fibula in an accident. An institution in Lima was charging $2,000 to perform the necessary operation, offering him the option of amputating the leg for less.

"I was resigned to losing my leg, but a doctor told me about the hospital the Cubans had set up here in Pisco and I came immediately," he said.

"They haven’t charged me a thing and they have saved my leg. I am very grateful for what they have done," he added.

Healthcare based on need rather than ability to pay. And not even limited to citizens of your own country. What a concept. A concept called "socialism."